Park Hydrologist Steve Rice said that while a fair amount of data exists for the South Rim's aquifer and spring system, there's been almost no study on the other side.
"The park sees this as a topic of great interest, but we didn't have the resources to study it internally," he said.
In 2007, Abe Springer of Northern Arizona University's geology department, requested a grant from Grand Canyon Association to study the aquifer system that feeds Roaring Springs and other water sources on the North Rim. GCA awarded about $35,000, with NAU graduate student Chris Brown leading the research.
While Roaring Springs is constantly monitored for drinking quality and some environmental testing is done at Vesey's Paradise in endangered Kanab amber snail habitat, there has been no comprehensive look at how these and other springs recharge, where the water comes from and how long its journey takes.
"They're just worried about water quality and meeting EPA standards," said Brown. "We're looking more at figuring where it comes from and how long it takes to get there."
Both sides - and all of northern Arizona, in fact - are atop the same system, the R-aquifer. They function as separate systems because of the Canyon and the Colorado River.
Based on what they had observed, South Rim's springs flowed at a lower but more consistent rate than those on the north side.
Brown spent the last year in the field, taking samples from perennial springs and during precipitation cycles. Through chemical and isotope analysis, they will be able to determine not only where water has been, but also how long it spent at certain points in the system.
"We want to figure which portion of the aquifer the water spends the most amount of time," he said. "It has to travel through a lot of rock to get where we're studying."
With this study, they are also establishing a baseline - something that's been done on the South Rim since the mid-1990s.
"It will give us better insight where this water is coming from and how robust the source is," said Brown. "We can come up with some implications of climate change or changes in land use on the North Rim."
The information will be used in models to run scenarios based on different kinds of land management, whether it's putting in wells at Jacob Lake, or cattle grazing or if uranium claims come to fruition in the forest.
"This will have implications for how Forest Service and private land are being managed for water quality and quantity," Rice said.
Brown will present the findings in his master's thesis. The grant also requires the findings to be published in a professional scientific journal and presented at a scientific professional meeting. The information will also become part of the Park Service's scientific archives.
